Cassette for coiled knife blade

ABSTRACT

A cassette for housing a coiled elongated flexible electrically conductive knife blade which is withdrawn therefrom through an opening at one end. A resilient spring is biased against the knife blade to complete a circuit through the knife blade so that the cassette can be installed in a circuit that will indicate when the knife blade is exhausted.

United States Patent Zychal et a1.

CASSETTE FOR COILED KNIFE BLADE Inventors: Edward Zychal, CornwellsHeights;

Barry L. Neuhard, Philadelphia,

both of Pa.

Assignee: Zyco Manufacturing, Inc., Cornwells Heights, Pa.

Filed: July 9, 1970 Appl. No.: 53,353

Related U.S. Application Data Continuation-impart of Ser. No. 774,720,Nov. 12, 1968, Pat. No. 3,545,322.

U.S. C1 83/651, 83/522, 83/661 Int. Cl B636 61/18 Field 01' Search83/522, 701, 170,

[ June 19, 1973 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,115,242 12/1963Kolesh 206/52 R 3,318,443 5/1967 Hillis 206/52 R 1,001,402 8/1911 Hindle225/52 X 1,185,490 5/1916 Everhart 225/52 X Primary Examiner- .1. M.Meister Attorney-Seidel, Gonda & Goldhammer [5 7 ABSTRACT A cassette forhousing a coiled elongated flexible electrically conductive knife bladewhich is withdrawn therefrom through an opening at one end. A resilientspring is biased against the knife blade to complete a circuit throughthe knife blade so that the cassette can be installed in a circuit thatwill indicate when the knife blade is exhausted.

4 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures Pmmwm 3.739.674

52 //v VEN r095 EDWARD ZYCHAL BARRY 1. NEUHARD er a M r ATTORNE' Y5-CASSETTE FOR COILED KNIFE BLADE This patent application is acontinuation-in-part of co-pending U.S. Pat. application Ser. No.774,720 filed Nov. 12, 1968, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,545,322.

This invention relates to a cassette for a coiled knife blade and moreparticularly to a cassette for a coiled knife blade of the type that canbe mounted on a machine.

In many manufacturing processes wherein materials such as motion picturefilm, magnetic film, paper, plastics and the like are manufactured inrunning lengths it is necessary to divide or cut the sheet into sectionsof reduced width. This is achieved by providing slitting knives havingblades which are disposed at regular intervals transversely of thedirection of movement of the material. Because the material movesrapidly past the knife blades, such blades are quickly dulled and itbecomes necessary to provide a mechanism for regularly advancing intothe cutting zone fresh sections of the knife blade. An apparatus forachieving this is disclosed in the above-noted patent application.However, there has never been a satisfactory way of storing that portionof the knife blade which has not yet been used nor has there been anysuccessful way achieved of indicating that the knife blade is exhausted.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a cassette forhousing a coiled slitting strip knife blade.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a cassette forhousing a coiled slitting strip knife blade wherein the blade is part ofan electric circuit which indicates when the blade is exhausted.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a housing fora coiled slitting blade wherein means are provided on the cassette formounting the cassette on a machine with the proper orientation.

Generally the invention relates to a cassette for an electricallyconductive coiled strip knife blade comprising a housing. The housing isclosed at one end to define a chamber for the coiled knife blade and hasan aperture at its other end through which an end of the coiled knifeblade is adapted to be drawn for advancing the knife blade into the pathof the material to be cut. Electrically conductive means is supported bythe housing so that it is adjacent the aforementioned aperture and sothat it is in engagement with the knife blade as it is withdrawn fromthe housing so that an electric circuit can be completed through theelectrically conductive means and the knife blade.

Other objects and advantages of the subject invention will becomeapparent from a detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereofwhich is illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cassette constructed in accordancewith a preferred form of the invention with a portion of a knife bladedepending therefrom;

FIG. 2 is a plane view of the cassette illustrated in FIG. 1 with thetop 'cover removed therefrom;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the cassette taken along line 3-3 of FIG.2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the cassette taken along line 4-4 of FIG.2; and

FIG. 5 is a schematic circuit diagram showing how the cassette can beconnected to an electric circuit.

Referring to the drawings in detail itcan be seen that the cassette 10houses the coiled knife blade 12 so that a portion of it depends fromthe cassette. The cassette comprises a generally U-shaped outer flangemember 13 which is supported on a base 14 housed therein. Moldedintegrally with the base and flange is a first guiding portion 15 havinga concave surface 16 that cooperates with a second portion 18 integrallymolded with the base and flange that provides a second concave surface19. First and second concave surfaces 16 and 19 cooperate with therounded portion of U- shaped flange 13 to provide a chamber.

At the opposite end of the housing the first and second integralportions present opposing faces 21 and 22 which are spaced slightly fromeach other to define an elongated, substantially rectangular aperture25. A coiled knife blade 28, of the type which is more completelydescribed in the above-mentioned co-pending patent application, ispositioned in the abovementioned chamber with its free end 30 dependingdownwardly through elongated aperture 25 so that it can be advancedtoward the cutting zone.

Means may be provided for resiliently urging the end of the knife blade30 against face 21 when the cassette is mounted in its operativeposition. Preferably such a means takes the form of a spring member 34which may be of S configuration. The spring member may be housed in anelongated recess 32 which is disposed laterally of and which is incommunication with elongated aperture 25. Such a spring preferablypresents a relatively flat smooth surface 35 that can be moved intoengagement with the knife blade. While an S-shaped spring is preferred,it is to be understood that any other type of restraining means may beemployed providing it has the same general characteristics as thepreferred S-shaped spring.

The housing also includes two elongated recesses 36 and 37 which areparallel to the elongated aperture 25 and which are disposed on oppositesides thereof. These recesses, which are employed to mount the cassetteon a suitable mounting device are of different sizes to accommodatedifferent size pins so that the cassette will always have the properorientation.

IT should be noted that one end of the aforementioned S-shaped spring 34extends slightly into recess 36 so that when a pin is inserted thereinthe spring is pressed to the right, into engagement with the blade (FIG.2) as mentioned above. The housing includes a cover 42 which is receivedwithin the U-shaped flange 13 and may be fixed thereto to close off thehousing.

Additionally, if desired, the housing can be fabricated with alignedapertures 44 and 45 in the cover and base so that an auxiliary means formounting the cassette can be provided or, in the alternative thecassette can be stored on a thin rod which is passed through theapertures.

Operation of the device is achieved by merely grasping the end 30 of theknife blade with a suitable tool and withdrawing it from the housingagainst the force of spring 34. Naturally, that portion of the springwhich is in engagement with the blade should not have anything on itssurface which would scratch or in any other way mar the side of theblade. 4

Under some circumstances it is preferred that a warning be provided whenthe blade has been exhausted from the housing and a replacement blade isnecessary. A warning device can be provided with the subject cassettewhen it is connected to a machine with a circuit of the typeschematically illustrated in FIG. 5. In that figure a source ofelectromotive force 47 is connected by an of-off switch 48 to a circuitcomprised of lines L and L wherein it is in parallel with the branchhaving the machine on-off light 51, the machine motor 53, branch 65having the knife blade exhaust light 58 and branch 67 having thecassette. Line L also includes an element having a high impedance suchas a resistor 59. Capacitors 62 in lines L and L are provided to reduceany possible shock hazard that might accompany use of this device.

It should be noted that the cassette is electrically interconnected tothe circuit by pin 63 which is inserted in aforementioned recess 36.Spring 34, which is made of electrically conductive material is urgedinto engagement with knife blade 30 by pin 63 so that it completes anelectrical circuit therewith. The knife blade is in contact with asuitable brush 61 which is connected to line L The brush may be aportion of the machine.

Thus, when switch 48 is closed the machine 53 begins to operate andlight 51 goes on indicating such operation. Impedance 59 assures thatonly a very small voltage will be available across the indicator andcassette branches. Normally electrical current generated by this voltagewill run through pin 63, spring 34, the knife blade 30 and brush 61.Knife exhaust light 58 is bypassed because of the cassette hasrelatively low impedance compared to the light 58. However, when theknife blade is exhausted the circuit through cassette branch 67 willopen and current will then flow through impedance 59 and light 58indicating that the cassette is empty.

Additionally, it should be noted that in normal use a plurality ofcassettes of the type described are used and they are set at regularlyspaced intervals transversely of the direction to which the material tobe cut is moving. In this regard it should be apparent that the circuitwhich would include such additional cassettes is similar to thatillustrated in FIG. 5 in hat for each cassette used there would be abranch 55 and a branch 67 extending between lines L and L While theinvention has been described with reference to a particular embodimentthereof which has been set forth herein, the scope of the inventionshould not be limited by the foregoing description but rather, only bythe scope of claims appended hereto.

We claim:

1. A cassette for housing a coiled elongated flexible knife bladecomprising a base member, said base member having two portions withfacing concave surfaces that define a circular housing for said coiledknife blade, said portions being spaced from each other to define anelongated aperture connecting said circular housing with the outside ofsaid cassette, each of said portions being provided with elongatedrecesses, said recesses being of different sizes and disposed onopposite sides of said aperture, and said blade being coiled in saidhousing and having an end adapted to be withdrawn through said aperture.

2. A cassette as defined in claim 1 including an elongated openingconnecting one of said elongated recesses and said aperture.

3. A cassette as defined in claim 2 including resilient means disposedin said elongated opening, said resilient means having two ends, one endof said resilient means extending into said one elongated recess whenthe other end of said resilient means extends into said elongatedaperture.

4. A cassette for housing a coiled elongated flexible knife bladecomprising a base member, said base member having two portions withfacing concave surfaces that define a circular housing for said coiledknife blade, said portions being spaced from each other to define anelongated aperture connecting said circular housing with the outside ofsaid cassette, each of said portions being provided with an elongatedrecess on opposite sides of said aperture, and said blade being coiledin said housing and having an end adapted to be withdrawn through saidaperture.

1. A cassette for housing a coiled elongated flexible knife bladecomprising a base member, said base member having two portions withfacing concave surfaces that define a circular housing for said coiledknife blade, said portions being spaced from each other to define anelongated aperture connecting said circular housing with the outside ofsaid cassette, each of said portions being provided with elongatedrecesses, said recesses being of different sizes and disposed onopposite sides of said aperture, and said blade being coiled in saidhousing and having an end adapted to be withdrawn through said aperture.2. A cassette as defined in claim 1 including an elongated openingconnecting one of said elongated recesses and said aperture.
 3. Acassette as defined in claim 2 including resilient means disposed insaid elongated opening, said resilient means having two ends, one end ofsaid resilient means extending into said one elongated recess when theother end of said resilient means extends into said elongated aperture.4. A cassette for housing a coiled elongated flexible knife bladecomprising a base member, said base member having two portions withfacing concave surfaces that define a circular housing for said coiledknife blade, said portions being spaced from each other to define anelongated aperture connecting said circular housing with the outside ofsaid cassette, each of said portions being provided with an elongatedrecess on opposite sides of said aperture, and said blade being coiledin said housing and having an end adapted to be withdrawn through saidaperture.